Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s spirits were lifted at Donington Park, as Alex Lowes fought his way to a stunning double sixth place finish in the afternoon’s two races.

Dressed for the UK round with patriotically designed helmet and leathers, Lowes put up a determined effort on his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R in the opening Superbike race – taking fifth place from Ducati’s Davide Giugliano on the fourth lap and matching the pace of the podium runners for the majority of the 23-laps. Holding the all-British top-five position for much of the race, a lack of grip in the closing stages eventually saw the local racer succumb to the approaching BMW of Ayrton Badovini, crossing the line in sixth for ten well-deserved points.

A strong start to the second race also saw Lowes hard on the back of the leading pack, fighting his way to fourth and then third place by the close of lap four. His podium aspirations may have been short lived, thanks to the factory Ducati paring of Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano, but the Suzuki racer continued to hold on to his top-six position, claiming a further haul of ten points and elevating himself up to eighth position overall in the Championship standings.

Alex Lowes:  “I’m happy enough with my race day as the boys – and the bike! - worked well and I did my best to be as competitive as possible. I was struggling a bit in both races with some confidence on corner entry which cost me some time, but the second race felt better than the first. We’ve made some big steps forward, so now we’ve got something to build on to keep improving further for the next race. I did all I could and the team did a fantastic job, and as ever the support here was great. I always enjoy racing at Donington, and to fight a bit with the top guys, get two consistent finishes and some solid points here was good.”